TechShop Detroit to Offer Tools for Inventors

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (WJBK) - Most of us don't have $20,000 or $30,000 to spend on a laser cutter, but that's the beauty of TechShop Detroit. You don't have to spend that kind of money. All the tools a would-be inventor could want are right there and available to everyone.

"The reason people don't actually do anything with these ideas, they don't have access to the tools and the resources," said Jim Newton. "So now, for about a hundred bucks a month, there's no excuse anymore."

Newton founded TechShop, a membership-based place to build your dreams.

TechShop can already be found in California and North Carolina. Million dollar ideas are developed all the time. Some of them change the world, such as blankets for premature babies in third world countries.

"They estimate it's going to save a hundred thousand babies' lives in the next five years," Newton said.

"I think it really accelerates innovation. It allows us to come together in very, very different ways," said Venkatesh Prasad with Ford Research and Innovation.

Ford Motor Company sees the value in combining innovation with access. They made it a priority to bring TechShop to metro Detroit.

Located in Allen Park, TechShop provides a 3D studio, milling machines, laser cutters, wood and metal shops, plastic and textile labs and classes to learn how to use the equipment.

It's an exciting opportunity for the inventor in all of us. The next big idea could be coming out of Detroit created right at TechShop.

TechShop opens on November 18.

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